52yr old man bags 3 months community service for stealing phones

An Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court on Friday sentenced a 52-year-old man, Usman Abdullahi, to three months Community Service for stealing two Infinix phones.

Abdullahi, whose address was not provided, was sentenced on a one-count charge of stealing.

The Magistrate, Mr Dehinde Dipeolu, sentenced Abdullahi after he pleaded guilty of the charge of stealing, and begged the court to have mercy on him, saying he would not steal again.

Dipeolu, however, sentenced the defendant to three months of community service, and also ordered that the community service would be done at the Adigbe police station and to be supervised by the Ibara correctional service centre.

Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, Insp. Olu-Balogun Lawrence told the court that the defendant committed the offence on Jan. 19, at about 2 pm at Panseke area in Abeokuta.

Lawrence said that the defendant entered into shops, run by one Mr Ibrahim Ogudipe, a computer operator, and Oluwasegun Olorunmade, a tailor, and pretended he wanted their services but in the process took their phones and went away.

According to the prosecutor, when Abdullahi entered Ogudipe’s shop, he requested that he wanted to do an ID card, but while Ogundipe was attending to other customers, the defendant stole his Infinix hot9 phone, valued N54,000.

He said that the defendant also entered Mr Olorunmade’s shop, pretending that he wanted to sew a cloth. However, when he noticed that nobody’s attention was on him, he took an Infinix hot6 phone, valued N42,000, and went away,” Lawrence said.

The prosecutor disclosed that the two phones were found in his possession when he was arrested, indicating that the defendant later made a confessional statement that he stole the phones.

Lawrence said the offence contravened section 390(9) of the criminal code laws of Ogun 2006.